The Gift of Friendship
by BondWoman007
Summary: Jack realizes the gift of friendship is worth everything to him. This is a prequel to the original Newsies story and is indirectly tied to my Providing Refuge story.


**A/N: Written for the "Newsies Pape Selling Competition". Task: #2 Write about a time when a newsie was forced to let go of their freedom for something or someone. Prompts: Object – Chains, Sound – Shouting; Words: 1555**

 **This story takes place before the original Newsies story (which I don't own, nor do I own the characters). It is not directly tied to my story Providing Refuge but is in the same setting and can be thought of as a sequel to the young Jack portions of that story.**

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I sometimes think that I give too much of myself to the other newsies, especially the younger ones. But then I'm reminded what it means to be a friend and how much we all depend on each other. Tonight I was coming back to the lodging house with a splitting headache. It had been a long, hot day selling papes. I still had 5 of my usual 50 left, but the streets were dark and I knew I would be locked out of the lodging house if I didn't get back soon. Plus, the news was practically a day old by now and nobody was going to pay to read it.

I was dragging my feet and thinking about Santa Fe. I wished that I could be there right now, riding my horse and feeling the wind on my face. I was rudely interrupted from my daydreaming by stomach grumbling at me. It reminded me that I hadn't eaten since the small breakfast I had gotten from the nuns this morning. I quickened my pace a bit and was soon to the lodging house. When I got there, it was quiet and dark and I knew I had missed any chance of getting something for supper.

Quietly, I climbed the stairs to my dorm room. I skipped over the step that squeaked and slipped into the room. It looked like all the boys I bunked with were asleep so I inched towards my bunk which I could just barely see outlined by the dim light from the moon that filtered through the dirty windows. Just before I reached my bunk, a small hand reached out and grabbed my leg. "Hiya Jack" a voice whispered. It was Skip, one of the youngest newsies that I had recently spent some time partnering up with to help him figure out the ropes. "Hiya Skip. How's ya doin'?"

"I saved yous some bread." Skip reached out his other hand and showed a roll that I could tell hadn't even been nibbled on. I knew it was probably most of his supper and was touched by the sacrifice. "Thanks Skip. What would I do wit'out ya?" Knowing better than to deny his gift, I took the bread and saw Skip's face light up with a grin. I heard him roll over and finished my walk to my bunk. Lying down, I quickly ate the bread and then was soon asleep.

The next morning, I decided I would offer to partner up with Skip again as a way to show my gratitude. I was rewarded by a huge grin and a brief hug which I pretended to not want but it actually touched me greatly to have such affection shown to me. We quickly bought our papes (Skip 30 and me my usual 50). I told him I would split the profits 60/40 even though I had bought the majority of the papes. We started our selling and I was proud to see Skip using many of the tips I had given him.

It was early afternoon when we heard a bunch of shouting. Not wanting to miss out on a good fight, we quickly ran down the street and pushed through a crowd of people to see two men throwing a bunch of punches at each other. The crowd of people made a tight ring around the men and were shouting encouragements and pushing the men whenever it appeared that they were backing off and trying to give up. I was so distracted studying their fighting tactics that I didn't notice until almost too late that a couple of coppers were circling towards me. I quickly glanced around to figure out an escape route and noticed Snyder, the warden of the Refuge, smirking at me.

"Skip, run!" I yelled as I grabbed his arm and started shoving him through the crowd of people. The mass of people were packed too tight though and we quickly got separated. I just focused on pushing my way through the crowd as fast as possible and hoped that Skip was close behind me. When I finally broke through the crowd, I took off on a run. I risked a glance behind me and saw Skip breaking free as well with the coppers close behind him. I didn't dare slowing down and kept running, hoping to make it to the fence ahead that I knew we could slip through but the coppers wouldn't be able to fit through. Just as I reached the fence I heard a strangled scream. Looking back, I saw Skip had fallen. He tried to get up but he must've hurt his ankle since he fell to the ground again.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I was almost halfway back to Skip. I could easily tell that there was no way I would be able to get him up and moving before the coppers caught up to us. Instead of stopping at Skip, I ran just a little ways past him and stopped. I could tell the coppers were surprised but they just ran faster as they realized their prey was close. Just before they reached me, I glanced back at Skip and gave him a quick smile.

As my arms were grabbed and I was wrestled to my knees, I heard Skip scream out, "No, Jack! How could ya?!" I closed my ears to his sobs and just looked up at the sky – knowing it was going to be awhile before I saw it again. Too soon, Snyder's smirking face blocked my view and I switched to glaring into his eyes. "Well hello, Sullivan. It looks like today is my lucky day. I've been searching for you for some time." Snyder then turned to the men holding me down, "Make sure to keep a tight hold on him and cuff him. Bring him directly to the Refuge. I have a room waiting for him."

My arms were roughly pulled behind my back and the cuffs were closed so tight around my wrists that I was worried the circulation was going to be cut off. Then I was pulled to my feet and we began the long walk to the Refuge. As I was pulled through the streets, I tried to ignore the many looks I received. Some were looks of pity, others were of curiosity, but most were of disgust as people were quick to assume I was some sort of horrid criminal.

Too soon we arrived at the forbidding gates of the Refuge. The men removed the handcuffs and handed me off to the guard standing there and I was then dragged into the dark and damp building that I had already seen too much of. The guard had apparently been given instructions by Snyder already as he brought me directly to the solitary room that I knew too well. Trying to keep the memories at bay, I allowed myself to be pushed into the room. I was about to collapse onto the cement slab which was meant to be the bed when the guard called out, "Not so quick, boy. I was told by Mr. Snyder that you are a flight risk and I must do everything possible to make sure you don't even think of escaping."

I turned back towards the guard and saw that he had picked up some chains from somewhere. He gestured for me to walk back towards him. Knowing I didn't have any other option, I did as I was told and lifted my wrists out to him. He snapped some heavy manacles around my wrists which had a short length of chain attaching them. Then he bent down and snapped a similar set around my ankles. Giving me a wicked grin he shoved me back and slammed the door shut. Not having much slack in my leg irons I was unable to keep my balance and fell hard on the floor.

I decided I really didn't want to end up with rats climbing all over me so I got myself up and shuffled over to the "bed". I laid down and thought back to Skip. I hoped he had managed to get back to the lodging house ok and that he would be able to go back to work tomorrow. Luckily I had let him hold all of our profits so he had plenty to keep him going for a few days. It wouldn't have done me any good in here, Snyder would've just confiscated it.

The more I thought about Skip the more my spirits were lifted. I knew that the next few days would be some of the worst days of my life, but Skip had given me more than just a bit of bread last night. He had given me the gift of a friend and that was more than a guy like me could hope for. There were a lot of guys who followed me and claimed to be my friend, but not many would actually be willing to sacrifice for me like Skip did. The knowledge that I had a friend out there waiting for me was more than enough to keep me going. And I was honored to be able to offer something like my freedom as thanks for that gift of friendship.


End file.
